The Colony police solved a cold case from 21 years ago in early December, identifying the duo who allegedly killed a man in a 1997 home invasion-robbery.

Police in The Colony say they've solved the decades-old slaying of a man in a home-invasion robbery.

The department announced Thursday that new leads led police to name father-and-son pair Roger and Christopher Newby as suspects in the 1997 shooting death of 32-year-old Chris Stecker.

Christopher Newby, 45, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for an unrelated murder that occurred just weeks after Stecker's slaying. Roger, his father, died in prison in 2014.

Police spokesman David Fitzpatrick said "good police work" led to a break in the case.

“Through some hard work, some new leads were developed,” he said.

He said the nature of the new information could not be disclosed because the investigation is ongoing.

Stecker was killed just after midnight on March 1, 1997.

Police say two men with guns tried to rob a home in the 4600 block of West Lake Highlands Road, demanding drugs and money from four residents. The residents did not have either, and the men indicated they might be at the wrong house, police said at the time.

Stecker, a neighbor, confronted the pair as they left the home, leading to a scuffle in which he was shot in the back.

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Fitzpatrick said police will complete the investigation before sending the case to the Denton County district attorney, after which a grand jury will decide whether to indict Christopher Newby on a murder charge.

Sarah Sarder. Sarah Sarder is a graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton, where she received Bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science. She is a North Texas native who previously worked for the Denton Record-Chronicle as a business reporter and spent four years as news reporter and editor at the North Texas Daily.